This invention relates to the preparation of bone material. In particular, this invention relates to the preparation of single phase high surface area bone material, biphasic bone material and a combination thereof.
Calcium hydroxyapatite (HA), (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2) is an important inorganic material in biology and chemistry. Biological apatites, which are the inorganic constituents of bone, tooth enamel and dentin, are typically very variable in their composition and morphology, and contain different impurities including Mg2+, K+, Na+, (CO3)2−, (HPO4.)2−, Cl− and F−. In general, these impure biological apatites are designated as calcium deficient or non-stoichiometric apatites. (A stoichiometric apatite can be defined where the Ca/P ratio is 1.67 for calcium hydroxyapatite whereas a non stoichiometric apatite is one where the Ca/P ratio is below 1.67 (Markovic et al, J of Res of NIST, 2004).)
Sintered Hydroxyapatite (HA) materials have been traditionally implanted in compact or porous form as a solid material or granules and have performed satisfactorily in the repair of diseased or damaged muskoskeletal systems. With respect to bone integration of the porous hydroxyapatite implants containing an interconnecting system of pores, these implants perform well in forming an intimate connection with the host bone. However, the disadvantage of these materials is that they do not break down or resorb back into the body easily and hence this prolongs the healing period.
On the other extreme, tricalcium phosphates (TCP) resorb or break down in the body easier. This desirable feature is negated by the fact that resorption or breakdown takes place faster than the rate of new bone formation, and hence creates voids which are not filled by bone but rather by connecting tissue. This creates poor mechanical stability at the implant site. In light of the two extremes described, biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) materials were developed in the early 80's comprising hydroxyapatite (HA) and β-tricalcium phosphate derived from both synthetic materials and natural bone mineral. In contrast to the single phase HA's which have a very high surface area in its natural form, the BCP materials have very low surface area and coarse grains (due to high temperature processing parameters) which is not conducive for cellular activity during bone regeneration as large grains do not promote osteoblastic formation.
In maximizing bone regeneration and wound healing, both bioresorption (which is the rate that a device is resorbed or degraded in vivo) and bioactivity (which is potential of a device to contribute towards bone regeneration) need to be optimized. These factors are in turn dependent on the physical, chemical and biological state of the bioceramic as well as the intended application of the material. The chemical state refers to the purity and phase composition (i.e. the type of phase present in the device, being either highly resorbable or stable) of the bioceramic, whereas physical state would be the external surface area of the HA crystals, degree of micro/macro porosity and interconnectivity. The biological state of the material would be impacted by both chemical and physical factors as well as its source of origin, being either natural or synthetic. The presence of non collagenous proteins in the extracellular matrix of natural bone mineral, for instance, will impact on the biological state. Further, the degree of micro (diameter<10 μm) and macro porosity (diameter>100 μm) stemming from the trabeculae size, impact on the biological state as specific geometric configurations of pores in the material have been reported to have the unique capacity to bind specific bone morphogenic proteins (BMP), that make it possible to initiate the emergence of the osteogenic phenotype and/or the morphogenesis of bone. Altering the chemical state can have a negative impact on the physical state and vice versa this may not be the optimum model to maximize bioresorption and bioactivity.
In the quest to develop the most robust bioceramic device derived from natural bone mineral, the designer experiences that optimization of the one variable occurs at the expense of the other and this is typical of a technical contradiction. Some of the technical contradictions can be outlined as follows:                Reducing the thermal treatments so as to maximize the surface area (bioactivity) of the device, but without impacting on the purity, crystallinity and ultimately the immunogenic response of the implant.        Altering the phase composition of the device by incorporating a more resorbable phase (thereby increasing bioresorption) whilst not impacting negatively on the surface area and porosity.        Improving the osteoconduction (which is the ability of a device to provide the appropriate scaffold which would allow for cellular infiltration, attachment and calcified tissue deposition) by not limiting the osteoinductive potential (which is the ability of the device to stimulate a cascade of events that drives the emergence of osteogenic phenotype and the morphogenesis of bone) by altering the geometric configurations of the pores.        
In summary, the ideal implant design would require robustness in altering the degree of resorption for various applications, whilst not impacting negatively on the bioactivity or drug delivery potential of the device.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a bioceramic offering the advantages of a high surface area hydroxyapatite component and a low surface area biphasic calcium phosphate (HA/βTCP) component. Both should be derived from natural bone mineral and have substantially the same geometric configurations as natural bone, with the purpose to regulate the degree of resorption whilst not impacting the bioactivity or drug delivery potential of the device. Further it is the objective of this invention for the attributes and the processes employed in producing high surface area hydroxyapatite component and the low surface area biphasic calcium phosphate to be superior over that descried in the prior art.